Insulated railway-rail joint.



No. 783,751. PATENTED FEB. 28, 1905.

E. n. LEWIS. INSULATED RAILWAY RAIL JOINT.

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\ I I" i I ,/I .w [FM/M {Kama Edward ELI 0W BY x No. 783,751. PATENTED FEB. 28, 1905, E. D. LEWIS.

INSULATED RAILWAY RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1. 1904.

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BY 21 MM m QWEH MUM No. 783,?51. latented February 28, 1905.

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NiTED STATES EIWVARI) D. LEWIS, OF SYOSSEIT, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR'TIO Tl-IE OONTIIN- UOUS RAIL JOINT COMPANY OF AMERICA, A OORIORAlION OF NICIV JERSEY.

lNSUtATElIl FWMLWAY lQAlL dtillltl l'u SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 783,751, dated February 28, 1905.

Application filed June 1, 1904. Serial No. 210,649.

T "157/ Hill/07H it I/ (I'll/M16771! compressed paper, or other pulp, or combi- Be it known that I, EDWARD I). LEWIS, a nationsofinsulatingmaterialscapableo'f withcitizen of the United States, residing at Syosstanding the great pressure and impact to set, in the county of Nassau and State of New which rails and their connections aresubjected.

5 York,haveinvented certain new anduseiullmindicates the bolts by means oi which the provements in Insulated Railway-Rail Joints; coi'inecting bars and rails are held in operaand I do hereby declare the following to be a tive relation. The rail ends are electrically full, clear, and exact description of the invcninsulated from one another by interposed tion, such as will enable others skilled in the posts or plates 151, which are formed and IQ art to which it appertains to make and use the operatein any usual manner to preventtheflow same, reference being had to tl accompany of the electrical current. from one rail to the ing drawii'igs, and to figures oi? reference other. marked thereon, which form a part of this l leretot'ore it has been common to force speclhcation. connecting bars or lnllets oi wood between the 5 The objects of the invention are to reduce head and base-flange of a rail, the wooden bar the cost of constructing insulated railwayor billet serving both as an insulator of elecjoints, to secure greater strength and firmness tricity and as a means of connecting two adat the joint in insulated joints of small cost, jacent rails; but said insulating connecting and to secure other advantages and results, bars have never, soilar as l am aware, served 20 some of which may be hereinafter referred to iii addition as a support for the base'llange in connection with thedescription of the work- 13 of the rail. By my construction l not ing parts. only simplify the joint as a whole, and thereby The invention consists in the improved inreduce the cost thereof, but with only a small sulated railway-rail joint and in the arrange addition of wood or insulating material I 25 ments and combinations of parts 01'' the same, materially enhance the rail-supporting value all substantially as will be hereinafter set of the insulation. forth, and finally embraced in the clauses of In the drawings the insulating comiectingthe claim. bars are each shown to comprise a vertical liet'erri'ngto theaccompanyingdrawings, in upper portion 16, having oppositely-inclined 3 which like figures of reference indicate correbearings 1'7 and 18, adapted to engage the 1msponding parts in each of the several figures, der side of the head of the rail and the upper Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved side of the flange ol the rail, respectively, joint when employing wood as the material of laterally-extending lower portion 1%), extendtheinsulatingconnecting-bars. Fig. 2 is a secing both laterally beyond the edge of the 35 tion of the same, taken at line m of Fig. 1. flange l3 and below the same snl'licient to en- Fig. 3 is a section on line y of Fig. l, showable the desired strength to be secured. lhe ing the invention when the connecting-bars laterally-extending lower portion is deeply are constructed of a fibrous non-conductive grooved, as at 20, to receive the flange, the composition pressed into shape; and Fig. at is walls of the groove flaring in C(.)l'l'tS])UI'ltl(H100 4 a side elevation of the last said variety of conwith sides ol? the flange to make a neat lit. struction. The bottom portion 21 beneath the flange is in said drawings, 10 10 indicate the adjaintegral with the upper part of the insulation cent ends of two railway-rails, each having the and serves as a support for the bottom of the head 11, the web 12, and base-flange 13 in any rail, thus adding greatly to the stiilness of 45 ordinary form. 14E 14E indicate the connectingthe joint.

bars at opposite sides of said rails. These are The parts thus described are onlinarily of insulating material adapted to obstruct formed outo'l a single block or piece of wood, or prevent the flow of electricity, either wood, being subjected to a milling operation in any of construction and cheapness of manufacture and the advantageous properties above recited the value and efficiency of the connection is materially enhanced.

As before stated, this construction while prticularly suited for wooden joints may be of molded plastic insulating matter. \Vhen I employ paper or compressed material in the construction of the joint, I prefer the construction shown in Figs. 3 and 4, in which case 1 may reduce the thickness of the body inaterial 14 and employ metallic reinforcingplates, of which 23 indicates a base plate adapted to be interposed beneath the insulating connecting-bars and side plates 25, rolled to conform to the shape of the outside of the connecting-bar and to protect thesaid conmeeting-bars from moisture, &c. These reinforcing-plates also serve the purpose of preventing abrasion of the insulating material underthe heads of spikes and under theheads and nuts of the bolts.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is 1. The improved insulating rail connection, comprising a bar or billet of insulating material having oppositely-inclined bearings adapted to engage the under side of the head of the rail and the upper side of the base-flange thereof, and having a bottom portion adapted to extend underneath the base-flange and support the same, the inner side of said block or suitable manner, and because of the simplicity l billet having a flaring groove to receive the flange of said rail, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with the rails, of connecting bars or billets of insulating material rigidly wedged between the head and flange of the rail at opposite sides thereof, the said bars being extended laterally and downwardly beneath the flange of the rail, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with the rails, of connecting bars or billets of electrically-insulating material rigidly wedged between the head and flange of the rail and extending underneath said flange, reinforcing-plates disposed at the outside of said bars or billets of insulating material and bolts for holding said parts together, substantially as set forth.

a. The combination with the rails, of connecting bars or billets of insulating material rigidly wedged between the head and flange of the rail at opposite sides thereof, the said bars being extended laterally and downwardly beneath the flange of the rail, and an insulating-post inserted between said rails, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 10th day of May, 1904:.

EDWARD 1), LEWIS.

\Vitnesses:

CHARLES H. PELL, BANCROFT G. BRAIN. 

